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Benefits of Exercise for Mental Health

   

Added on  2020-02-24

8 Pages1969 Words64 Views
Does Engaging in exercise improves person's mental healthStudent’s NameInstitution Affiliation’Date of Submission

Does Engaging in exercise improves person's mental healthYes, engaging in exercise improves a person’s mental health. In this age of an increasinggrowth of obesity and mental illness, lifestyle modification is the most cost effective means of enhancing health and the quality of life. Lifestyle modification is of great importance especially to persons with mental illness. Most of this people are at risk of developing chronic complications linked to inactive behaviors and drug side effects, including hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and heart diseases. One of the effective lifestyle modifications is the engagement in exercises. The benefits of exercises is not clearly understood and appreciated by healthcare providers and patients, however, according to Network (2017), exercise is one of the most ideal way to improve the mental state of an individual. In this case, the essay will discuss on the importance of engaging in exercises to improve the mental health.Aerobic exercises are the most important and easy to do exercises that reduce depression and anxiety. Aerobic exercises include cycling, jogging, swimming, dancing, and gardening. These exercises have a positive improvement on the mood, because, during exercise, there is an increase in blood flow to the brain influencing the “hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal”, consequently, a reactivity to anxiety and depression (Stanton, Reaburn & Happell, 2017). The psychological effect can be explained by the influence of the HPA axis on several part of the brain, which include the limbic system that controls mood and motivation, and hippocampus, which enhances memory formation.Exercise can treat depression as efficiently as antidepressant drugs but of cause without side effects. Other than relieving the symptoms of depression, a research conducted by Morell, Rosenbaum & Parmenter (2016) reveals that exercise can prevent a patient from relapse.

Exercise is ideal depression for a number of reasons. The most important one being that, it influences the brain positively enhancing the feeling of calmness, this is important as it breaks the cycle of negative thoughts which bring depression.In addition, exercise is beneficial in the treatment of anxiety. Exercises can serve to reduce stress and tension, boosting mental and physical energy, and promoting mental health. In this case, it is arguable that, anything that anything that keeps you moving can be of help, however, you will get more benefit if adequate attention is paid rather than zoning out. For instance, during exercise, try to feels the sensation of the feet as they hit the ground or the rhythm of the heart. By adding this elements and focusing more on how the body feels during exercise, there will be an interruption of he worries that run through the head, thus, easing thoughts of depression and enhancing mental health (Zopf, Cormie, Joseph & Galvao, 2016).Further, one a person is under stress, the muscles around the shoulders, neck, and face aretense leaving an individual with painful headaches or neck or back pain. Other times, there are tightness on the chest or muscle crump. In addition, one an individual is under stress, symptoms of stomachache, heartburn, frequent urination, and insomnia are common. The discomforts of these symptoms and worry can worsen the situation causing a nasty cycle between the body and mind. However, with exercises, this cycle can be broken. Exercise relieves tension and relaxing the muscles bring a feeling of calmness. Since the mind and body are closely connected, when the mind feels better, so is the mind (Eather, Morgan & Lubans, 2016).A research conducted by Druss (2017) shows that, by focusing on the body during exercises can help the nervous system “unstuck” helping it to move from immobilization stress reaction that characterize trauma. During exercises, it is important to focus in order to deviate

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